


And then there were two..

by pinkamour1588



Series: The Making of a Home [4]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Babies, Birthday, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Illnesses, Kissing, M/M, Parenthood, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-09-01 15:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20260096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkamour1588/pseuds/pinkamour1588
Summary: When attempting for baby number two, things don’t go quite as planned for Leonard and Jim.





	1. Chapter 1

“So, I’ve been thinking…” Jim began one evening as he settled on the couch with Leonard after putting Evelyn to bed.

“That’s rarely good,” Leonard answered pausing the movie he was watching.

“Hey! That’s mean. I have plenty of good ideas.”

Leonard laughed. “I know. I was just teasing. What have you been thinking about?”

“Well, Evie’s about a year old and we always said that after a surrogate we would adopt. I was thinking maybe we could start looking into it. Get the process started.”

“You sure? We can wait a little while longer. There’s no rush.”

“No, I’m sure. And it might take a while. Evie could be almost three by the time the adoption happens.”

“But she also could be barely more than two. Do you think we can handle two kids that young at the same time?”

“We don’t have to start the process if you’re not ready. We can’t wait. That’s fine.” Jim said.

“Let me think about it.”

Jim nodded, getting comfortable while Leonard pressed play on the movie.

***

Leonard brought up the subject on occasion the next few days, mostly just asking Jim questions and giving scenarios. Five days after Jim brought up starting the adoption process, Leonard woke up around six-thirty in the morning to find Jim already out of bed. He stared at Jim’s side of the bed because his husband was rarely willing to get up before nine. Then he heard a soft voice through the baby monitor and smiled, dragging himself out of bed and pulling on a pair of pajama pants before heading down the hallway to Evie’s room.

Jim was standing with his own pajama pants slung low on his hips, bouncing and rocking Evie. Leonard leaned against the doorframe with a small smile.

“Daddy and I are talking about getting you a little brother or sister. What do think of that, Evie? You want a brother or sister? You’ll have to share Daddy and me with them, but I promise you’ll still be our baby girl and love you just as much as we do now. That will never change,” Jim whispered to her.

She let out a small whine and cough.

“We’ll see if Daddy has anything for that cough and fever when he wakes up.”

“Think one of us will have to go to the store,” Leonard said softly.

Jim jumped a little and turned around. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” He walked over to Jim and Evie, pressing the back of his fingers to her flushed cheek. “I’ll go to the store after I have a little coffee.”

Evie coughed again, and Jim rubbed her back gently.

“Has she eaten or drank anything?” Leonard asked stroking her hair.

“Offered her a bottle but she turned her nose up.”

“Any vomiting?”

“No, just coughing and crying.”

Leonard nodded, gesturing for Jim to follow him to the kitchen so he could make coffee. “How long’ve you been up?”

Jim looked at the clock on the stove. “Half an hour I think.”

“You can go back to bed for a bit.”

“She wasn’t very happy with me when I tried to put her down ten minutes ago.”

“I can take her.”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

“You want coffee then?”

“Yes, please.”

Evie reached up and grabbed at Jim’s face, clearly upset at the lack of attention.

“Yeah, I’m right here, baby girl,” Jim laughed.

Leonard watched the two of them with a small smile.

~

Around nine, Leonard got back from the store to find Jim laying on the living room floor with Evie sprawled on top of him. He was speaking softly to her, much like he had been earlier, though this time it was clear she was asleep. When Jim saw him, he gave the doctor a smile.

“Want some help?” Leonard asked gesturing to Evie.

“She’s comfortable.”

“Are you?”

“Uh...hand me a pillow.”

Leonard grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and handed it to him. After a little adjusting, Jim stuck it under his head.

~~~

That night, after Evie had been put to bed, fever and cough almost gone, Leonard walked into the kitchen where Jim was cleaning up from dinner. Leonard wrapped his arms around his husband and kissed his cheek.

“Do you think we could handle two sick kids at the same time?” Leonard asked.

“Yeah. It’d be a lot more difficult, but I think we could do it,” Jim nodded.

“Do you want to call the agency tomorrow or do you want me to?”

Jim turned around with a small smile. “You want to start the process?”

“Yeah,” Leonard nodded.

“I’ll call tomorrow.” Jim grinned as he pulled Leonard into a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://pinkamour1588.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

After getting approved for adoption, and putting in their preferences for the child, which were limited to the child being less than a year old, it became a waiting game. They occasionally received calls from the agency saying they had a woman considering putting her baby up for adoption, but every time she seemed to change her mind either about the adoption or the family.

In early August of the following year, Jim was sitting on the floor with Evie watching a movie when his comm rang. He grabbed it off the coffee table and answered it as Evie climbed onto him, trying to get some attention.

“Hello?” Jim said.

_“Hi, Jim, this is Lucy from Heart to Heart Adoptions.”_

Jim perked up. “How can I help you?”

_“We have a woman who is pregnant and looking to put her baby up for adoption.”_

“How...How far along is she? Or when’s she due?” Jim asked smiling at Evie and rubbing her back.

_“She’s due January 10th. When I showed her the different profiles, she really liked yours and Leonard’s. She would love to meet you two, and Evie.”_

“And is she just considering adoption or is she set on it?”

_“She’s set on it. She’s fifteen.”_

“Uh, send over the details and I can talk to Len about it.”

_“Sure thing. And if you decide on proceeding and meeting with her, you know the drill. Give us a call.”_

“Thank you, Lucy.”

After saying goodbye, they both hung up and Jim looked to Evie.

“Nap time for you, and then we can go shopping. Gotta get another birthday present for Daddy tomorrow,” he said to her as he set his comm down and moved her off his lap to stand up.

“No nap,” she protested.

“Yes, nap. Papa needs to grade papers and plan his next lecture.”

She frowned and held her arms up to Jim.

“Use your words.”

“Papa pick up.”

Jim smiled at her and picked her up, carrying her to her bedroom. He got her settled in her bed then set the timer.

“Story?”

“No, not now, Evie. Storytime is at bedtime.”

She pouted. He kissed her forehead before starting the timer and walking out, closing the door most of the way.

***

Jim snuck out of bed early the next morning, making sure everything was set and turning off Leonard’s alarm. When Evie woke up around seven, he helped her change out of her pajama shirt into one that said ‘future big sister’ then led her to the master bedroom where Leonard was still fast asleep.

“Go wake Daddy up,” he whispered to her, helping her up onto the bed.

She scrambled over to Leonard and began poking his cheek. “Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy,” she said with each poke.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Leonard asked after a few minutes peeking one eye open.

“Daddy wake up,” she answered.

“Papa tell you to wake me up?”

She nodded.

Leonard sat up and looked at Jim who sat on the bed smiling at him. “Of course he would.”

“Happy birthday,” Jim smiled, leaning around Evie and kissing Leonard’s cheek.

When Jim leaned back, Leonard’s gaze settled on Evie’s shirt, reading it for a few moments then looked at Jim. “What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means?” Jim asked, then held out a box, “If you need a hint.”

“Did they call?” He took the box and opened it to find a newborn size onesie. “Please tell me this means they called.”

“They called yesterday before Evie’s nap. Fifteen-year-old girl named Diana. Due January 10th. She’s really serious about adoption and…” Jim was cut off by Leonard’s lips on his. It wasn’t until Leonard pulled back he could see the doctor was playfully covering Evie’s eyes.

“What was that last thing?” Leonard asked dropping his hand from over Evie’s eyes and pulled her onto his lap.

“She wants to meet with us. All three of us,” Jim answered.

“We can set that up today.”

“Sounds good. In the meantime, I’m sure this little one is hungry.”

“You asking me to make breakfast on my own birthday?”

“Maybe?”

“You’re lucky I love you two,” Leonard teased as he shifted Evie so she was over his shoulder as he got up.

***

Three days later, Jim and Leonard sat on the floor of the playroom/meeting room at the adoption agency’s center. Evie was making the two of them play kitchen with her while they waited for Diana, though Jim had a slight suspicion that the mirror in the room was actually a window. After about half an hour, there was a light knock on the door and Lucy poked her head in.

“Diana’s here,” Lucy said.

“Send her in,” Jim nodded as Leonard was preoccupied with Evie, pretending to eat the plastic ice cream cone she gave him.

Lucy stepped aside and let a young, dark haired girl in.

“Hi, I’m Diana,” she smiled holding her hand out to Jim.

“Jim,” he answered, smiling at her and shaking her hand, “And that’s Leonard and Evie.”

“So, uh, the profile said you work for Starfleet,” she said as she sat down at the table.

“Yes, I teach part time at the Academy and Bones—Leonard—teaches at the Academy and does clinical training sometimes at Starfleet Medical,” Jim answered, sitting in one of the other chairs as Leonard turned his attention to Diana.

“And how long have you been together? The profile said you’ve been married eight years.”

“Fifteen years with this one,” Leonard smiled at Jim patting his knee.

“Papa,” Evie said holding out a pretend plate of spaghetti.

“Do you want to give our guest something?” Jim asked as he took it and gestured to Diana.

Evie looked at her then back at Jim and shook her head, settling down on Leonard’s lap.

“Getting shy again, Evie?” Leonard asked softly.

She just tried to hide herself in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back gently as he and Jim spoke with Diana.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next few weeks, the agreement was drawn up and signed. The spare bedroom was cleaned out and Jim and Leonard hesitantly started shopping. Evie was fascinated by Diana’s quickly growing bump. Jim and Leonard opted to let the sex of the baby be a surprise this time. From the very beginning of the third trimester, Jim was unbelievably nervous that this baby would be premature like Evie had been, no matter how many times he was reassured otherwise.

The day before Christmas Eve, Jim was supervising and helping Evie in a bath before bed when Leonard came in with a strange expression on his face.

“Evie, how would you like to spend Christmas Eve with Grandpa and Pops?” Leonard asked her with a smile.

“Why?” Evie answered.

“Because you’re gonna have a baby brother or sister soon and Papa and I have to go get them.”

“Baby!”

“Yeah, so let’s get you dried off and dressed, then you can pick out a stuffed animal and toy to bring to Pops and Grandpa’s house,” Jim said picking her up out of the bath and wrapping her in a towel, quickly drying her off. He helped her dry off and dress while Leonard made sure her overnight bag was set and called Chris and Phil.

Twenty minutes later, Evie was playing with her stuffed koala while Leonard drove over to Chris and Phil’s house.

“Are you hoping for a baby brother or sister, Evie?” Jim asked from the passenger’s seat.

She made a face, thinking for a moment, then answered, “Puppy.”

“Don’t think that one’s an option, but I’ll keep that in mind,” Jim laughed.

“What’re you hoping for?” Leonard asked looking over at Jim for a moment.

“I’m inclined toward boy. You?”

“A healthy baby,” he answered before pulling up to Chris and Phil’s house and getting out of the car before Jim could respond.

Jim got Evie out of her car seat while Leonard went to the door to let Chris and Phil know they were there. After giving Evie plenty of kisses and telling her to be good, Jim and Leonard handed her over to her grandpas and drove to the hospital. 

“You know, that was a total cop out,” Jim said halfway to the hospital.

“What was a cop out?” Leonard glanced over at him when they were at a stoplight.

“Saying you’re hoping for a healthy baby when asked if you’re hoping it’s a boy or a girl. And it makes me sound like a bad person.”

“It’s true though. I don’t have a preference or one that I’m guessing the baby is. And you having a preference or one you’re guessing doesn’t make you a bad person. I know you don’t actually care either way and that all you’re truly hoping for is a healthy baby.”

“Still a cop out.”

Leonard rolled his eyes. “If I guess girl will that satisfy you?”

“Sure,” Jim shrugged.

Leonard shook his head slowly as he pulled into a parking space. 

“We’re gonna be daddies again…” Jim said slowly.

“I’m not sure if ‘again’ really fits in, but we are about to be dads to another little one.”

Jim grinned and gave him a lingering kiss before getting out of the car. As they walked into the hospital, Leonard slipped his hand into Jim’s and smiled at him. When they got up to the maternity ward, they stopped in Diana’s room to find her alone.

“Hey,” Jim smiled at her as he and Leonard walked in.

“Hi,” she sniffled.

“Where’s Patrick? I thought he was going to be here. And your mom,” Leonard asked gently.

“Mom’s working the night shift and can’t get out of it and Patrick...Patrick broke up with me.” She suddenly made a face and gripped the blanket covering her. “I’m scared,” she whimpered.

“Do you want us to stay? I know the plan was for us to be in the waiting room…” Jim asked.

“Please,” she nodded.

“Do you need more ice chips?”

She nodded again, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Jim gave her a smile before heading out.

“What else do you need?” Leonard asked.

Diana thought for a few moments then nervously answered, “Can I have a hug?”

“Of course, can I sit down?” He gestured toward the edge of the bed.

Once she nodded, he sat down facing her, opening his arms for a hug. She moved closer and hugged him as tight as she could. After a few minutes, he felt his shirt starting to get wet with tears.

“Shhh, you’re gonna be alright. Jim will be back anytime now with the ice chips,” Leonard soothed.

“Hurts,” she whimpered.

“I know.”

“I come bearing ice chips,” Jim announced when he walked back in.

Diana pulled away from Leonard settling back against the pillow, digging her nails into her palm as she tried to breathe through a contraction.

“Tell us whatever you need,” Jim told her when he handed her the cup of ice chips.

She just nodded and put an ice chip in her mouth.

~~~

Over the next few hours, Jim took her on walks up and down the hallways and brought her more water. Leonard got her another pillow from the supply closet and cool, damp paper towels. Around one in the morning, Diana was clinging to Jim in tears as the medical staff got the room set up.

“I don’t wanna do this,” she whimpered.

“You can get a C-section. It’s just not recommended,” Leonard answered.

“That fucking asshole.”

Jim pulled back a little to look her in the eye. “He is. But you know what? Len and I couldn’t be more grateful for what you’re doing for us. So that asshole can get over himself because you deserve better than him. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you want either of us to stay in here during the delivery?” Leonard asked.

She sniffled. “You can both stay.”

“You can kick us out if you need to. We won’t mind,” Jim gave her a small smile.

~

Half an hour later, Diana relaxed against pillows panting as a tiny cry filled the room. Jim bit his bottom lip as the screaming baby was handed to a nurse and the cord was clamped and cut.

“Got yourselves a little girl,” the doctor said with a smile.

“More glitter,” Leonard laughed, wiping the couple of tears from his cheeks.

Jim was about to ask if he could go watch her be cleaned up and weighed and measured when Diana’s grip on his hand tightened.

“Hurts still,” she whined.

The doctor looked at the monitor and raised an eyebrow. “That’s because you’re still having contractions and need to push.”

“The baby’s out. Why would I?”

“Because you’re having twins.”

“What?!” Jim, Leonard, and Diana said at the same time.

Diana looked at Jim and Leonard apologetically before curling in and pushing.

Fifteen minutes later, a second tiny cry filled the room.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to adopt both. All the scans said…” Diana panted.

“Breathe,” Jim told her calmly, shoving all his own panic down.

He continued speaking to her calmly as Leonard slipped away to look at the wailing baby. Leonard looked to the nurse who was rocking the first baby.

“May I?” Leonard whispered.

The nurse nodded and handed the swaddled baby over. He smiled down at the squished red face, instinctively starting to rock her gently.

“Hi, sweetheart. I’m your daddy. Your papa is over there and your...sister is right there. Your big sister is with your grandpas.”

~

Forty-five minutes later, Jim and Leonard were sitting in a quiet room, each holding one of the babies and discussing names.

“Noelle,” Jim said suddenly, “Not necessarily first name.”

Leonard thought it over for a few minutes. “We said we like Olivia. What about Olivia Noelle?”

“I like that,” Jim smiled down at the bundle in his arms. “You wanna be Olivia Noelle?”

The baby yawned and squirmed.

“We’re gonna go with yes,” he laughed.

“And I keep coming back to Sophia Joy,” Leonard said.

“I like the name Sophia...but Joy. You want to subject her to being Sophia Joy Kirk-McCoy?”

“If you don’t like it, we won’t name her it.”

“I do like it. I’m just hesitant.”

“Jim, if you’re hesitant, we probably shouldn’t name her it.”

“Just give me a minute.” Jim thought the name over for a long time before nodding. “Yeah, I like Sophia Joy.”

“We have three kids now,” Leonard said with a laugh.

“Three under three.”

“We need to call everyone. Or at least call Phil and Chris. We need another car seat, bassinet, crib, bouncer...Oh god.” Leonard looked at Jim wide eyed.

“Breathe. I’ll call them.” Jim dug his comm out and dialed Phil’s number.

“Baby here?” Phil asked groggily when he picked up.

“Yep, they’re both here,” Jim answered.

“What? Both?”

“Yeah...It was twins.”

Phil was silent for a few moments, turning this over in his head. “Send me a picture and info on the car seat you have. We can drop off the play yard with that bassinet thing and get it set up in your bedroom. Um...What else do you need? And what are their names?”

“I think that’s it for things we need for when they come home. And their names are Sophia Joy and Olivia Noelle.” Jim smiled over at Leonard.

“Do you want me to drop the second car seat off at the hospital and the play yard at your house, then let you four get settled before Chris or I bring Evie home?”

“That would be fantastic, Phil,” Leonard answered.

“Well, you two need to call your moms and Joanna.”

“Yeah, we’ll see you later. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Phil said before hanging up.

“I’ll go take a picture of the car seat when it’s not so dark out. Do we want to call everyone else now or wait for a more reasonable hour?” Jim asked looking over at Leonard.

“Joanna’s probably already awake and getting ready for her flight over here for Christmas. So, we can probably call her now with no complaints, and she’s going to want to be told as soon as possible,” the brunette answered.

Jim nodded as he selected her contact, strangely surprised at how fast she picked up.

“Hi, Papa. Why’re you calling so early?” she said sounding like she was still in the process of waking up.

“Your dad and I wanted to let you know that you just got a bonus little sister?”

“What do you mean?”

“Apparently, all the scans were a little off, so we have twins in the family now.”

“I have twin baby sisters?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, god, I’m gonna need to buy another onesie for her. What’re their names?”

Jim laughed. “Sophia Joy and Olivia Noelle.”

Joanna continued inquiring about every detail she could think of before she had to hang up to catch her flight. After she hung up, the two men decided it would be best if they tried to get at least a few hours of sleep. They had taken shifts of napping while Diana was in labor, but the exhaustion of being up for so many hours was starting to get to them.

Around eight, after helping a nurse feed the twins so Leonard could sleep more, Jim headed down to the car to take a few pictures and get the specifics of what model the car seat was. On his way back up to the room, he got himself and Leonard coffee. He smiled when he walked back in to see Leonard still passed out asleep. Setting the coffee down, he moved closer, gently shaking his husband.

“Babe, I brought coffee,” Jim said when he noticed Leonard was beginning to stir.

Leonard let out a soft hum as he opened his eyes. Jim leaned down and gave him a soft kiss before handing him his cup.

“Thank you,” Leonard mumbled as he took a sip.

Jim just smiled as he settled down next to him with his own coffee.

“Oh, god,” Leonard said suddenly fifteen minutes later.

“What?”

Leonard looked at Jim with a mildly panicked expression. “We have two babies. Two newborns.”

“Yep.”

“And a two-year-old at home.”

“That we do. And I’m pretty freaked out by it too.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” Leonard said, mostly to himself.

~~~

Around noon, Phil came by with the new car seat, taking the opportunity to hold Sophia who had just finished her bottle.

“So, what time do you want us to bring Evie back to your place?” Phil asked.

“Five? A nurse is going to come in once Olivia’s finished eating to make sure they’re both properly in their car seats and then we go home,” Leonard smiled down at Olivia who just blinked up at him.

“We’ll make sure to call first.”

~

When they got home around one-thirty, Jim got the two babies settled in their bassinets then walked out to the living room to find Leonard sprawled face first on the couch.

“You know, the bed’s a lot more comfortable,” Jim said.

Leonard lifted his head and looked over at him. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted the bed to yourself to sleep.”

“I can share. C’mon.” He gestured to Leonard to follow him.

The brunette dragged himself up off the couch and to the bedroom where he promptly assumed the exact same position on the bed. Jim grabbed the quilt Leonard insisted on keeping on the end of the bed and pulled it over the two of them as he laid down. Leonard instinctively moved closer, settling with his arm draped over Jim and dozing off.

Jim was half asleep when he heard the front door unlock and open and someone walk in. They set the heavy duffle bag they were carrying down and toed off their shoes before venturing. He peeked one eye open when the footsteps stopped in the doorway.

“I swear, you two never get any less sickeningly cute,” Joanna mumbled as she rolled her eyes and walked over to the bassinets, smiling down at Sophia and Olivia.

“Don’t get sassy,” Jim belatedly said softly.

“Hi, Papa.” She flashed an innocent smile over at him even though he wasn’t looking.

He mumbled something else incoherently and dozed off.

~

Jim was woken up half an hour later by one of the twins crying and Leonard getting up. “Diaper or bottle?” Jim asked.

“Bottle. Sophia’s hungry. Olivia probably will be soon too.”

“Jojo’s here.” He slowly got up.

“Think we can get her to change diapers and feed the twins?” Leonard asked as he walked out of the bedroom with Jim following.

“Maybe you could ask her,” Joanna answered from the couch.

“Do you think we can convince you to help out?”

“Do you think I wasn’t planning on helping while I was here?”

“Don’t expect the two of us to make sense for a little while,” Jim said to her.

She nodded and gave him a thumbs up. “So, who’s who?” she asked when Jim and Leonard both settled on the couch, each with one of the twins and a bottle of breastmilk.

“This is Olivia and that’s Sophia,” Jim answered.

“And which one was the bonus one?”

“Sophia,” Leonard said with a small laugh, smiling down at the infant.

“When’s Evie getting home?”

“Around five. You might need to help occupy her.”

“More than happy to.”

~~~

At five o’clock, Phil called asking if it would be alright to bring Evie home now, and if Chris could come or not. Twenty minutes later, she was running into the house excitedly. 

“Babies!” she squealed before Chris or Phil could tell her that she needed to be quiet.

Jim sighed and made his way to the bedroom to try to calm Olivia who had been woken up before she woke Sophia up too.

“Evelyn, remember what we talked about in the car?” Chris asked her.

She frowned. “Babies sleep lots.”

“So we have to be quiet.”

She nodded before brightening up when she saw Joanna, running and launching herself into the twenty-year old’s arms.

“When did you get so big Evie?” Joanna asked playfully.

“I dunno,” Evie shrugged then pulled away from her when she saw Leonard. “Daddy!” She reached up for him to pick her up.

“Hey, Evie,” he smiled at her before turning to Chris and Phil, “Thank you so much for keeping her a little longer.”

“No problem, she’s a delight,” Phil smiled at her.

“Were you good for Grandpa and Pops?” Leonard asked smiling down at Evie.

“Yes.”

“Chris, Phil, do you want to come meet them?”

“I’d love to,” Phil grinned.

Leonard led the way to the bedroom where Jim was rocking and shushing Olivia. “Jim’s holding Olivia, and this is Miss Sophia,” Leonard smiled as he picked her up and carried her over to where Chris and Phil stood.

“She’s beautiful,” Chris smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chris and Phil stayed for about a half an hour before heading home. Over the coming weeks, Joanna was unbelievably helpful about the house. She would take Evie out for a few hours, do some of the grocery shopping, and if Jim or Leonard were taking a short nap, she’d keep an eye on the twins. Evie, however, was ending up in time-out nearly every day. When Olivia and Sophia were a little over a month old, Jim and Leonard, and even Joanna, Chris, and Phil, were at their wits end. 

One night, after Evie had thrown a tantrum over going to bed and woken Sophia and Olivia up, Jim found himself sitting outside her bedroom with his head in his hands, listening to her scream and cry and Leonard trying to soothe the twins down the hall. He felt bad for not helping Leonard, but the last few times he tried to walk away from Evie’s room, she would try to leave it. He had also taken the task of handling her tantrum. When he finally heard the screaming part of the tantrum end, he dragged himself up from the floor and walked into her bedroom. She was sprawled on the floor, only halfway into her pajamas, sobbing. 

“Come on, let’s get you the rest of the way into your pj’s,” Jim said as he grabbed the shirt and helped her into it. 

As soon as the shirt was on, she crawled onto his lap and clung to his shirt. “Why don’t you love me anymore?” She cried.

Jim froze. “You think I don’t love you? Evie, you know when you don’t behave you go in time-out.”

“You don’t love me. You love Olivia and Sophia more.”

His stomach turned and he let out a soft sigh. “Your daddy and I love you just as much as we did before your little sisters were born.”

She shook her head.

“Daddy and I are busy with them. They need a lot of attention. You know how you can use the potty by yourself?”

Evie nodded.

“They can’t do that. And you know how you can get dressed all by yourself?”

“Olivia and Sophia can’t?”

“Yeah, they need Daddy and me to get them dressed. They need Daddy and me to do a lot of things that you can do all by yourself.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry you thought Daddy and I don’t love you. I promise we love you lots. You’re still our Evie who we love so much.”

“Okay.”

“Now, bedtime.” He nudged her off his lap and to the bed.

She pouted but got up and climbed into her bed. Jim tucked her in then leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I love you, Evie,” he smiled.

“Story?”

“No, no story tonight.”

Evie pouted a little more then gestured for Jim to lean down. She kissed his forehead before saying, “I love you, Papa.”

Jim smiled a bit more, making sure she was well tucked in before turning on the nightlight and walking out, closing the door behind him. He walked down the hall to the master bedroom to find Leonard rocking and bouncing Sophia as she whimpered. Jim wrapped his arms around Leonard, resting his chin on his husband’s shoulder. 

“You wanna head to bed first tonight? I can finish cleaning up from dinner,” Jim offered.

“I think Jo already cleaned up,” Leonard answered.

“Oh, thank god.”

“I do need a shower.”

“Yeah, you do. You stink,” Jim teased.

“You say that like you smell any better.”

Jim stepped back when Sophia was asleep, letting Leonard put her in the bassinet. “Go shower and trim the scruff,” Jim smiled, lightly patting Leonard’s cheek.

“Yes, dear,” Leonard teased as he headed to the bathroom. 

~

When Leonard returned half an hour later, Jim was laying half passed out in bed. Leonard smiled to himself as he pulled on a pair of boxers and pajama pants before getting into bed. 

“Evie thinks, or thought, we don’t love her anymore,” Jim said suddenly.

“What?” Leonard moved closer, wrapping an arm around Jim’s waist.

“Evie said she thinks we don’t love her anymore since the twins arrived.”

“Why would she...oh, god. What did you tell her?”

“That we love her just as much as we did before the twins arrived and that we have to pay more attention to them because they can’t do all the things she can, like dress themselves and use the toilet.”

“She thinks we don’t love her anymore,” Leonard sighed, snuggling up against Jim.

“We have been brushing her aside a lot, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, we kinda have.”

“We need to fix it...or try to fix it.”

“We can brainstorm in the morning. Sophia or Olivia is gonna wake up in a few hours and I’m tired.”

“M’kay.” Jim settled back against his husband with a soft sigh.

***

A week later, Leonard laid on Evie’s bed reading to her while Jim fed the twins and got them ready for bed. Evie laid curled up next to him, dozing in and out of sleep. Leonard smiled down at her, setting the PADD aside and just stroking her hair. Once he was sure she was asleep, he untangled himself from her and got up. After one last glance at her, he headed to the master bedroom. He paused in the doorway and grinned, watching as Jim fed Olivia, going back and forth talking to both of them. 

“Remember when you were scared you weren’t going to be a good enough dad?” Leonard asked as he walked over.

“Vaguely.”

“And in hindsight you were so wrong. You’re an amazing dad.”

“I can still screw up.”

“I suppose, but so can I.”

“I guess. Can you burp her so I can feed Sophia?” Jim asked as he set the empty bottle aside.

Leonard nodded, taking Olivia, resting her head on his shoulder, and gently patting her back. Jim smiled at him as he picked up Sophia and her bottle, sitting on the bed as he fed her. 

“We made a pretty good little family,” Jim said, looking down at Sophia.

“A very good little family.”


End file.
